Benching Smith was a bold move for Pistons' Cheeks

Detroit Pistons head coach Maurice Cheeks, right, yells about a foul call during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, Nov. 15, 2013. The Pistons won 97-90.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

It’s just 12 games into his first season as head coach of the Pistons, but Mo Cheeks could already be at a turning point.

Cheeks elected to have Josh Smith come off the bench Friday night after Smith missed a practice Thursday.

It was a practice Cheeks scheduled late Wednesday night on the flight home from a loss at Atlanta.

“I called a practice and he didn’t get back to practice,” Cheeks said. “I called it late and he couldn’t get back to the practice.”

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Smith said he didn’t hear about the practice until after midnight Wednesday and admitted he should have done a better job communicating. Smith did not take the team flight home Wednesday, electing to stay in Atlanta, which is where he is from and played for the last nine seasons.

Teams typically don’t have a practice after a back-to-back and Detroit was coming off the second game of a back-to-back Wednesday night.

“It’s not like an NBA rule where you can’t have practice after a back-to-back,” Cheeks said. “If we would have won the game I probably wouldn’t have, but I decided to have one.”

Saturday Cheeks said Smith will be back in the starting lineup Sunday.

Benching Smith was a bold move by Cheeks and how it plays out will be key moving forward.

It can either help him establish his authority in the locker room or it could possibly backfire.

The NBA is a players league and Cheeks is viewed as a players coach so it was interesting to see Cheeks bench a star player in a spot him might have been able to give the player a pass.

It’s up to Smith to make it to the practice, but at the same time he didn’t expect there to be a practice and his father, who he is very close with, did not attend Wednesday’s game because he was ill.

Smith elected to stay in Atlanta to be with his sick father before he found out about the practice.

Could Smith have still made it? Yes.

Could have Cheeks made an exception in this case? Maybe.

The Pistons could have kept Smith missing practice internal. There was no reporters at Thursday’s practice because it was called so late and everyone assumed it was an off day. But Cheeks chose to share the reasoning behind Smith’s benching.

Cheeks also apologized for not letting the media know he was holding a practice after Friday’s game.

The initial results of Cheeks’ decision to bench Smith were not good.

Smith had terrible game coming off the bench Friday night. Smith was held scoreless for the first time since Dec. 14, 2004, which was during his rookie season. Smith finished 0 for 7 from the field. He had seven rebounds, one assist, one steal and three blocks in 20 minutes.

“I thought he tried,” Cheeks said. “His numbers don’t say (that). He had seven rebounds, 0 for 7, but I thought he tried.”

Smith told reporters he apologized to Cheeks and Joe Dumars on Friday and he was looking to move on. But Smith was also bothered by the public perception that he just skipped a practice and doesn’t believe it’s an accurate reflection of his character.

Did Cheeks make the right call and establish that nobody is above missing a practice? Or did he risk losing a star player early in the season?

It will be interesting to see how it plays out moving forward.

The Pistons hope to contend for a playoff spot, but are off to a 4-8 start. Detroit needs Smith playing well to make a run at the playoffs.

The Pistons have struggled defensively to start the year and Smith is likely their best defender. Detroit needs Smith to set the tone defensively.

Smith was far from a choir boy in Atlanta, but nobody expected him to be benched just 12 games into the season.

The benching could just be a bump along the way, but the key is to make sure the small bump doesn’t start to become a major obstacle.

Days off have been few and far between under Cheeks, but with injuries and eight new players developing chemistry is key. The extra practice time might be needed.

“We needed practice,” said Singler, who started in place of Smith and finished with a career-high 22 points Friday. “In my eyes it was good for the team. We basically just had a film session. It was good for the team.”

Growing pains were to be expected, but the losses might be starting to weight on players.

“You can see it on everybody’s face, nobody likes to lose,” Andre Drummond said. “Nobody does, it’s tough to swallow. We just got to get back to the drawing board. We can’t keep using the same excuse that we’re a new team, we’re 12 games in now. It comes down to figuring things out, just coming together as one.”

Detroit plays at struggling Brooklyn Saturday and then has four straight home games, which are all winnable games.

It’s early in the season and Cheeks’ tenure as coach, but the next week could be very key. How does Smith and the team respond?

Did Cheeks make the right call?

The answer will appear in the Pistons’ win column in the coming weeks.

Dave Pemberton covers the Pistons for Digital First Media. Email him at dave.pemberton@oakpress.com and follow him on Twitter @drpemberton.